Manufacture of wire rods



Dec. 4 1923. 1,476,333

J. R. GEORGE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE RODS Filed Feb. 24, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Dec. 4, 1923.

nMTEn srA'r s 1,476,333 PArEnr gorrlca,

JEROME R. GEORGE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T MORGAN CON- STEUCTION COMPANY, OF WORCESTER,

MASSACHUSETTS.

MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION OF MANUFACTURE OF WIRE RODS.

Application filed February 2t, 1920. Serial No. 360,634,.

To all whom it my camera:

Be it known that l, JERoME R. GEORGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and a Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Wire Rods, of which the following, together with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

lln the manufacture of wire rods it is customary to conduct the freshly rolled rod to a reeling mechanism from which the coiled rod is transferred and subsequently cooled, but this transference ofthe coil from the la reeling mechanism is liable to disarrange or snarl the coil. When a coiled rod is slowly cooled and exposed to the atmosphere oxidization takes place, producing a scale which is subsequently removed, preparatory to to wire drawing, resulting in an additional expense and the loss of stock. To avoid this result it has been proposed to cool the coil in an inclosed chamber containing an inert or nonoxidizing atmosphere, but this method has involved certain difficulties in its practical operation.

My present invention provides a stationary conveyor table lon enough to substantially cool the rods as t ey pass over it, and

so ll coil the rods directly upon the conveyor table, by what is known as a laying reel, thereby avoiding the liability to isarrange or snarl the coils by transferring them from the reel to the conveyor. I also provide as means for moving the coil automatically along the conveyor table, with a step-bystep movement by means of an endless chain provided with spurs and I lay the coil around one of the spurs of the chain thereby causing the coil to beengaged by the spur upon the inside of the coil and drawn along the conveyor table instead of being pushed, as is now customary.

My present invention further com rises a multiplicity of reels arranged at difierent distances longitudinally from the finishing rolls of the mill, thereby rendering each of the reels accessible, and I arrange the conveyor tables side by side with the delivery l ends of the tables adjacent to each other,

for convenience in disposing of the coils delivered from each of the conveyor tables.

In order to secure greater efliciency in the use of an inert or deoxidizing atmoscasing,

In the manufacture or wire rods it is essential to maintain a uniform diameter of the rod and also a true cylindrical cross section, and in order to provide means for the occasional testing of rods delivered from the difi'erent passes of a rolling mill my present invention provides an open conveyor table with a reeling mechanism preferably of the type known as a pourin reel, to which an individual rod may be diverted as frequently as desired for testing purposes. I further provide means for rendering certain movements of the mechanism embodied in my present invention automatic in their action. These objects among others I accomplish by the arrangement and combination of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view, with the casing of one of the reels and its conveyor table removed.

Figure 2 is a central vertical sectional view through a laying reel and its associated conveyor.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the open or pouring reel on the plane of the broken line 3-3, Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse view of one of the inclosed conveyor tables.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic sketch illustrating an electrical system by WhlCh ce rtain movements of the laying reel and its associated conveyor are rendered automatic.

Similar reference letters refer to similar parts in the different figures.

Referrin to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a denotes the nal finishing rolls of a rolling mill having, in the present instance, two passes a, a from either of which the rolled metal is delivered through pivoted guides 12, operated by any suitable switching mechamsm, into any one 'of the curved conduct ng troughs c, 0 0 or 0 by which the rod is conducted to one of the reeling mechanisms d, 0Z 0?, and (i These reeling mechanisms are of the type known as laying reels, by which the rod is coiled by a rotating arm 6 forming a coil 9 between concentrically arranged pins 6 in the usual manner of reels of this type, as illustrated in Fig. '2. The coil is supported upon a stationary horizontal conveyor table 6 The reel and the table are both inclosed within a casing 6 into one end of which an inert or deoxidlzing atmosphere is conducted through a pipe 6 and delivered from the opposite end of the easing through a stack 6 Pivotally supported within the casing e are a series of bafiie plates 7 so spaced that one at least of the battle plates vwill rest upon the conveyor table 6 as the spaced coils'are moved over the table. The conveyor table 6 shown in transverse section in Fig. 4, is provided at each edge with troughs e in which the bottom of the casing e is supported and water sealed. The top of the casing is made in sections e having water sealed joints which allow the top to be removed for access to the interior ofthe casing. The center of each conveyor table is channelled to receive an endless conveyor chain 6 carried Upon sprocket wheels 6 and. c and provided at regularly spaced distances with Spurs 6 adapted to engage the coils and move them from the reeling mechanism over the conveyor table by a step-by-step movement until they are finally delivered by gravity into a pocket 6 from which the coils from each of the tables may be transferred to a common carrying mechanism 9 or otherwise disposed of.

The concentric pins (2 project upwardly through holes in the conveyor table 6 and are supported by a plate 72. carried upon a vertically sliding spindle 71, connected by a link k with a crank pin k carried upon a disk h, which is rotated at each of its move ments through. half a revolution by an electric motor.

The laying reels d, d, d, and d, are placed in pairs upon the opposite side of and at different distances from the line of movement of the rod as it leaves the roll passes a, ta as illustrated in Fig. 1, that is, thereel d is nearer the rolls a than the reel d and also nearer the line of movement of the rod as it is delivered from the rolls. This arrangement of the reels renders each reeling mechanism accessible by means of doors, in the casing of the reel, such as are shown at i, F ig. 2. The sprocket wheels at the delivery ends of each conveyor table are driven by electric motors conveniently located, and when the coiling of a rod has been completed the plate It is depressed, as shown by the broken lines 72., Fig. 2, by the rotation of the disk h one half of a revolution. Subsequent movements of the table It and the step-by-step movement of the conveyor chain 6 are rendered automatic by a system of electrical wiring diagrammatically'illustrated in Fig. 5, operating as follows When a rod has been coiled the operator by means of a push button j completes an electrical circuit to energize a magnet 7' which, actuating a clutching mechanism, connects the motor j with the crank disk It to rotate the latter one half a revolution to depress the plate It. The clutching mechanism between the motor j and the disk 11. is of any known type, like that, for example, known as the Horton clutch, which will become automatically thrown out of action when the motor has revolved the disk 11 one half a revolution. the plate 7L rocks a lever against a contact point 70 which, completing another circuit, energizes a magnet 70 to actuate a clutching mechanism connecting the motor 70 with a sprocket wheel shaft is, to rotate the latter through a suflicient angular movement to move the conveyor chain a sufficient distance to move a coil from the reeling mechanism along the conveyor table 0 one step, moving the coil from its position at the reel to the position shown at 1, Fig. 2. The clutching mechanism between the motor k and the shaft 7: of the sprocket wheel is of the same type as that employed between the motor 7' and the disk It, or one which will automatically disengage itself when the conveyor chain has moved the requisite distance to transfer the coils on the conveyor table one step. When this movement of the sprocket wheel shaft is has been accomplished, the magnet j is again energized by the rotation of a disk m, carried on the sprocket wheel shaft is, and having cam projections m which pass entirely across and clear a spring m depressing it against a contact point m thereby completing an electrical circuit which includes the magnet 7', calls The depression of ing the clutching mechanism to again con- 1196s the motor j and disk It to rotate the latter one half a revolution and elevate the plate It to its normal position ready for the coiling of another rod.

The upward movement of the plate h and the step-by-step movement of the conveyor chain are thus rendered automatic, the de prcssion of the plate It alone requiring to be manually operated. The electrical circuits at the push button 7' and the spring m remain normally open as soon as the circuits have been completed, the push button j being reversed by a spring n and the spring we rising by its own resilience as soon as the cam projection m has passed over it.

At one side of the reeling mechanism 0! d d and d and their associated conveyor reel, in which the coil is laid upon a plat-' .form which is provided with means for elevating the coil as shown by broken lines 0 Fig. 3,. forming a stripping plate for raising the coil above the pins 0 At the level of the elevated coil I provide an open conveyor table p having a central channel 32 for an endless conveyor chaln 2 provided with spurs p carried upon sprocket wheels 72' and p. A platform q connects one end of the conveyor table with the reel allowing the coils to be moved over the platform 9 from the platform at 0 upon the conveyor table 2, and over the sprocket wheel p in position to carry a spur p of the chain 39 into the inside of a coil resting on the table 12 at the next movement of the chain 32 when the coil after being tested is moved over the table 7. The conducting trough 7 leading to "the reeling mechanism 0, is. located between the troughs c, 0 and the troughs a? and c to enable a rod from either of the roll asses a a to be diverted to the open ree 0 for the purpose of being tested as to its diameter or the shape of its cross section. The reels (2', 03 d and d may be driven by belt connections 8, 8 thereby controlling their speed to correspond with the delivery of rods from the finishing rolls a. The open reel 0 and the conveyor chain p are actuated by any suitable motor which maybe manually controlled. Y

While the accompanying drawings are diagrammatic for the most part, they set forth the essential features of my present invention, and the detailed construction of the several operating'parts will be understood by those familiar with rolling mills.

ll claim,

1. In apparatus of the class described, a plurality of coil conveyors extending parallel with the line of delivery of the wire,

and an independent coiling device associated with each conveyor, said coiling devices being at different distances longitudinally from the common supply point of said wire.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a plurality of coil conveyors extending parallel with the line of delivery of the wire, and an independent coiling device associated with eaclrconveyor, said coiling devices re ceiving wire from a common supply and being at different distances transversely, from the line of said delivery.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a

row of closed conveyors for the movement of coils, all extending parallel with the line .of delivery of the wire, and an independent,

ranged, across the row of conveyors, 'at dif-' ferent distances longitudinally from said source of supply.

4. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for moving a coiled rod over said table by a step-by-step movement, and means for coiling a rod on said table and around said coil moving means as it is delivered from said rolls. l

5. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table having a channel in its upper surface, an endless chain held in said channel provided with spurs for engaging a coiled rod, and means for coiling a rod around one of said spurs as it is delivered from said rolls.

6. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coiling a rod as it is delivered from said rolls on said table, an endless chain provided with spurs for engaging said coiled rod, and means for moving said chain to bring one of its spurs within the circle of a coiled rod.

7. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coiling a rod delivered from said rolls, on one end of said table, a casing inclosing said coilin means and said table, and a series of space bafiie plates inclosed in said casing.

8. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coilingv a rod delivered from said rolls on one end of said table, a casin inclosing said coiling means and said ta le, and a series of spaced bafie plates pivotally supported in said casing.

9. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coiling a rod delivered from said rolls on one end of said table, a water sealed casing supported on said table and inclosing said table and said coilin means.

10. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coiling a rod delivered from said rolls on one end of said table,.a casing inclosing said table and said coiling means, and a 're: movable cover for said casing made in water sealed sections.

11. The combinationwith the rolls of a rolling mill, of an inclosed coilin mecha: nism, means for conducting a rod rom said rolls to said inclosed coiling mechanism, a second open coiling mechanism, and means for conducting a rod from said rolls to said open coiling mechanism.

12. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means 13. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coilin a rod delivered from said rolls on said tagle around concentrically arranged pins projecting above the upper surface of said table, means for withdrawing said pins below the upper surface of said table to release the coil, means automatically controlled by the withdrawal of said pins for moving the coil from its coiling position, and means automatically controlled by said coil moving means for restoring said pins to their normal position above the upper surface of said table. r

414. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of a stationary table, means for coiling a rod delivered from said rolls around concentrically arranged pins normally projecting above the upper surface motor by the Withdrawal of said pins, a second electric motor for restoring said pins to their normal position, and means automatically. controlled by said coil moving means for completing an electric circuit including said second motor.

Dated this 20th day of February, 1920.

JEROME R. GEORGE; Witnesses:

RUFUS B. FOWLER, NELLIE WHALEN. 

